To groom new hires, startups throw a 100-day challenge

Companies like Swiggy, BigBasket, Pepperfry, MobiKwik and others are gearing up to make the first 100 days as informative and experiential as possible for new joinees.ET Bureau | July 10, 2018, 09:04 IST

By Brinda Sarkar & Ashwin Manikandan

New recruits soon joining India’s startups will have their hands full, with visits to customers, accompanying associates making deliveries, immersive sessions with founders and other senior leaders, and much more. The objective: to hit the ground running from day one.

Companies like Swiggy, BigBasket, Pepperfry, MobiKwik and others are gearing up to make the first 100 days as informative and experiential as possible for new joinees. Experts say that the first three months are crucial for new employees, as they settle down into new roles and get a feel of how systems and processes work.

Getting support while learning

At food ordering and delivery startup Swiggy, employee induction consists of a 360-degree view of the business, culture and processes, post which new hires must participate in a culinary challenge. The company has also rolled out a ‘Customer Connect’ programme, under which new hires are given an on-the-floor experience into customer support functions.

“They are also encouraged to deliver live orders to customers with the support of delivery executives, thereby experiencing the process first-hand,” said Girish Menon, vice-president of HR.

Having identified inadequate support and heavy workload in the first 30 days on the job as the primary cause of early attrition, e-grocery BigBasket has rolled out a comprehensive induction programme for warehouse and delivery staff. Team leaders will focus on being supportive and flexible with new joinees.

“New hires in warehousing and delivery roles can work their way up to full productivity gradually with support from team leads. For example, we will be giving them lesser orders to pick or deliver to start with, so that they can learn on the job and go on to becoming productive without stress, sweat or tears,” said Hari TN, HR head at the Bengaluru-based company.

Close connect with leadership

Indonesian hyperlocal logistics and transport startup Go-Jek has rolled out a programme under which every new employee is assigned to either the Go-Jek or the Go-Pay platform—both led by chief technology officers—and are given a bird’s eye view of products, tools and architecture being created to support multiple products. At the end of three months, employees make a decision on the kind of projects they want to work on.

“The induction employees will get now is very different to what they would have received even a year back, as we’ve scaled in size. Now, new joinees get to come into mature teams and hit the ground running, besides also getting exposure to and support from senior folks,” said India head Sidu Ponnappa.

For Pepperfry, which is expanding its omnichannel network across cities, new joinees get to attend sessions with senior leaders who brief them on the vision of the company, said Aditi Pareek, senior manager of HR. Other modules include being taken through the company’s values, culture and systems.

Making the first 100 days count

At auto rickshaw aggregator Jugnoo, the first 100 days’ programme for new recruits consists of training them to take ownership of their responsibilities. New employees are given tasks where they can fail, learn, and be open to changes, said cofounder Chinmay Agarwal, adding that the focus is on instilling a culture of agility.

The initial three months for a new employee should not just be about understanding his or her specific role, but also about familiarising themselves with the organisational structure and vision, said Upasana Taku, co-founder of digital payments company MobiKwik. New joinees at the company are taken through one-on-one sessions with the founders, to channelise their energies in the right direction and enhance productivity.

Pepperfry has rolled out a 3-3-3 process to ensure the HR team engages with new hires on whether they’re comfortable in their new roles. They get in touch with every new joinee on their third day to ensure smooth commencement of employment, then on the completion of three weeks, and finally at the completion of three months.